


Some Things

by forgetmequite



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Stag Nights & Bachelor Parties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 12:01:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13974714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetmequite/pseuds/forgetmequite
Summary: Isabelle plans Alec's bachelor party. The second time around, it's a little different.





	Some Things

**Author's Note:**

> Excuse the potentially shoddy execution, but I recently rewatched Season 1 and got Feelings about Izzy and Alec and happier bachelor parties.
> 
> Plus, it's my birthday as of half an hour ago and I wanted to publish something to celebrate.

“I saw Alec while I was waiting for you,” Simon said, interrupting a very pleasant silence as they admired the roses along the pathway. “He looked surprisingly happy.”

Izzy laughed, pushing her shoulder lightly against his. “It’s not such a surprise anymore, c’mon. He’s a lot less prickly nowadays than when you met him.”

“I mean I know that,” Simon smiled, as if just the thought of someone else being happy improved his day, “we actually talk sometimes, and by that I mean, he also talks to me, willingly, so that’s definitely a change from then, I didn’t mean that. I just kind of figured that with the wedding coming up, and having to spend so much time in Idris, he’d be a lot more stressed. But he actually seemed pretty chill.”

Izzy laughed out loud. Alec had become considerably happier during the past few years, that much was true, but chill? Not a word she’d associate with him, even now. Despite everything that had changed for the better in his life, he still had a switch that was _always_ on. That was just Alec.

Then again, Simon always saw people in the best light possible. That was just Simon.

“Okay,” Simon said, as if he’d read her mind. “Maybe not chill. But content. I know my experience actually comes mostly from rom-coms, but I figured planning a wedding would be less calm.”

He looked momentarily a little nervous, as if he thought that he’d put his foot in his mouth. But it didn’t feel like that to Izzy. They’d been together for a while now, that was true, and sometimes she thought, sometimes she was even sure, that they were headed in that direction, as well, but it wasn’t something she felt any pressure about. She’d learnt long ago that the idea that shadowhunters only fell in love once was a lovely sentiment, but not for her. Simon wasn’t her first love, and even though he might very well be her last, she was in no rush to try to make that official.

He’d always had a knack for making her feel at ease, like she was enough, and perfect, just the way she was, no change needed. This was no different.

She squeezed his hand as a reassurance. “To be fair, Magnus has centuries of party-planning experience. And they’re both just really _happy_ about the whole thing, you know? A few days ago, we were going over some plans, and I actually had to leave the room. They were literally talking about flower arrangements, and there was a whole table between them, but it just felt like I was intruding on something intimate.”

Simon smiled, and Izzy felt something warm slosh in her stomach. She was over the moon for her brother and brother-in-law-to-be, but it was a lot easier to be happy for them when she had a reason of her own to be ridiculously happy.

“Certainly beats the last time you were helping plan Alec’s wedding, though,” he said, and then slammed his hand in front of his mouth. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that, I suppose no one wants to actually remember-“

“It’s okay.” She couldn’t help a smile. “I’m not sure he even remembers he almost got married that day, and the other stuff is apparently a pleasant memory. And besides, I was just thinking about it myself. I- um, Alec asked me to organise his bachelor party again.”

Simon raised an eyebrow. Somehow, he managed that without stopping his smile. It looked kind of ridiculous, but in a way that he could somehow make work.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” She looked at the ground, recalling the memory. “Apparently, this is the only time he’ll ever get married and he wants to do it properly. And it’s the first wedding Magnus is having, and Alec wants it to be perfect.”

“I knew he’s a sap!” Simon looked far too victorious. “Seriously, I’ve always suspected that, but he’s also really prickly or official a lot of the time so it was a bit hard to verify, but I knew he had to have a soft heart.”

He was right. Izzy always made it a point to admit her mistakes, and telling Magnus that Alec was ‘not exactly warm and fuzzy’ was one of them.

“Anyway,” Simon went on, “did you want my advice again? Because I’m having some serious déjà vu right now.”

Izzy bit her lip. He was very cute when he got excited, and she really wanted to kiss him.

“No, actually,” she said once she pulled away. “I still remember the advice you gave me the first time.”

Simon pursed his lips. “Was it any good? Because I just remember you being super adorable when you asked, I think I was so nervous that I just babbled whatever came to mind and it’s all a blank.”

She laughed. “Don’t worry, it was actually great advice. And I think this time Alec might actually like what I have planned.”

 

\---

 

“This feels like it’s happened before,” Alec said as he reached the bottom of the stairs and let Izzy manoeuvre him towards the centre of the room. “I promise, I haven’t picked a fight with Jace recently, please don’t make me relive that experience again.”

“I won’t,” Izzy said, moving away from him. “But, um, count to five and take that blindfold off.”

She couldn’t see him raise an eyebrow because of the blindfold, but she knew he was doing it anyway. Alec might have become happy, but that had done only a little to smooth over his sharp edges.

Then again, he had always been expressive, and he didn’t disappoint now when he finally ripped the blindfold off and scanned the empty room, his eyes finally landing on Isabelle settled comfortably on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn in her lap.

“Surprise,” she said, knowing full well that she was grinning from ear to ear.

To be fair, so was Alec.

“So,” he said, “my bachelor party is literally just going to be you?”

“Don’t forget the popcorn,” Izzy said, raising the bowl a little for emphasis. “Plus, a few films that I know you like. And I was thinking you could do my nails, Magnus was just saying how you do a great job whenever you do his. Not to mention, he made me promise that when he inevitably calls you drunkenly from his party and asks you to come because he misses you, I’ll do nothing to stop you except tag along.”

“Sounds great.” Alec took a seat next to her, reaching for the popcorn. “I never should have doubted you even for a second.”

“Absolutely not,” Izzy said as she reached for the remote.

 

Two films in and Izzy’s fingernails almost dry, Alec turned to look at her.

“Thanks, Izzy,” he said. “We’ve both been pretty busy recently, I feel like it’s been ages since we last spent time together.

Izzy blew on her nails. “That’s part of why I wanted to do this and not a bigger party. It was something that Simon said when I planned your first bachelor party that really stuck with me.”

Alec raised an eyebrow. “It really must have if you still remember it. God, that feels like a lifetime ago.”

She looked at him properly. Physically, he still looked pretty much the same as he had then, aside from subtle changes in clothing style. But inside, so much was different. She didn’t know exactly what demonic trickery (in this case, most likely the tricking of demons to do what they hadn’t planned to do) had went down that had landed Alec with immortality that was not yet visible in anything but the dazed happiness it brought to Alec and Magnus’s future plans, but it had not altered her brother’s looks. His new position in Idris had perhaps given him grey hairs in the figurative sense, but the only visible change it had brought so far had been the inclusion of Downworlder representatives to a few committees, something they both knew was not enough but was a start, nevertheless.

As for Izzy herself, the changes were not so clear-cut and obvious, but they made all the difference in the little ways. She was still in the Institute, but now officially the Special Representative in Charge of Downworld Relations, and sometimes the Acting Head in her mother’s absence. Still dating a downworlder, but this time it wasn’t treated as a weird eccentricity or a dirty little secret to hide by her family. Simon, obviously, was not like Meliorn in any way except that they were both good people whom Izzy was lucky to know. Still incredible at fighting in heels; that would never change even though her work included somewhat more paperwork these days. Still the best pathologist in New York City, but now working primarily out of a joint lab she’d founded with Catarina Loss outside the Institute walls when it came up in the cabinet meetings that always carting off dead bodies to the Institute for analysis felt like taking over and asserting dominance to the downworlders who’d been witness to whatever was to be analysed. She smiled just thinking about the fascination Catarina’s daughter Madzie had for her work. She had already learnt all the names of the bones in the mundane skeleton by heart; if Izzy wasn’t careful, in a few decades she might no longer be the best pathologist in New York City, but instead work with the new holder of that title.

There was, also, the completely new tangled mess of feelings that she didn’t quite dare yet start to unravel, all about herself, and her future with Simon, and the new-found knowledge that there was something in this realm or another that could make a shadowhunter immortal. She had no idea where to even begin to think about that, or if she even wanted to. Some days, it felt like Simon had not even properly realised himself that he was never going to die a natural death. But it certainly was a change compared to the past. Maybe someday she’d bring it up to Alec, who was probably the person best-equipped to grapple with the issue. But today was not that day. Today, she was happy to be just Isabelle Lightwood, enjoying some downtime with her brother.

“You’re right,” she said. “So much has happened since then.”

“I feel like a totally different person.” Alec played with the hem of his shirt. “What was it that Simon said that made such an impression?”

Izzy let out a short laugh. “He said that bachelor parties were really just about affirming that even though your friend’s life is going to change, you’ll still continue to be important to each other. That the wedding’s not really going to change anything between you.”

“Simon’s a lot smarter than I gave him credit for then,” Alec said, sincerity creeping into his tone. “He’s right; nothing’s going to change. You’ll always be important to me, Izzy. Always.”

Izzy swallowed around her suddenly dry throat. Immortality might be a new thing to Alec, but she had no doubt that when he said always, he meant his own always, not just hers.

It was a heavy sentiment. Sweet, but not something she could really put into words.

“Of course nothing’s going to change,” she said with a decidedly light tone. “You and Magnus have been acting like you’re married since you got together. The ceremony will just be the bureaucracy catching up to reality.”

Alec’s look shifted; he got that soft look in his eyes that he only got when thinking about Magnus.

“Maybe,” he said. “But still. I can’t wait to be his husband. Mr Lightwood-Bane has a great ring to it.”

Izzy smiled, looking away from him at her hands. Her own relationship was not at that stage yet, but it felt... nice, to see what Alec and Magnus had and to think that maybe, one day, that’d be her. Her life hadn’t exactly been filled with great role models for healthy relationships, it was nice not to have to break new ground in that aspect.

“It does,” she agreed. “Just remember, though, that you better not make your children strangers to Aunt Isabelle.”

Their eyes met, and it seemed they both realised at the same time what she’d said. But it wasn’t shock that she saw in Alec’s eyes; it was joy.

“How’d you know we’ve been talking about that?”

“I don’t know.” Izzy bit her lip. “You’ve always been great with Max. And you were great with... well, me, I remember that much. I knew you always wanted kids, and Magnus has adopted like half the downworlders I know, I just-  You’d both be great fathers, and I just figured you’d want to be, too.”

Alec’s eyes sparkled. “We do,” he said. “And whenever that happens, you’ll be the first person to hear about it from me.”

Izzy settled more comfortably against the couch. Her nails had properly dried by now, so she reached for the half-empty popcorn bowl.

“Looking forward to it.”

Alec’s smile turned mischievous. “For the record, you’ll also be the first person I’ll call when we’re looking for a babysitter.”

She laughed. “Hey, I was great with Max, too. Bring it.”

“You were,” Alec said. “That was never in doubt.”

As the conversation shifted towards the choice of the next film and they settled down to watch it, Izzy couldn’t help sneaking a few glances at Alec, his eyes on the screen in front of them but his smile clearly a leftover from the earlier conversation, or maybe due to happy anticipation of the future of his family. Every once in a while, his gaze would stray to Izzy and his smile only get wider.

He’d been kind of wrong, earlier, Izzy thought. Some things would change, as always, with time. But a lot of those changes would be for the better. And some things, the truly important things, would never change, no matter how much time flew by.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/forgetmequite)!


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